Save 75% your first 30 days with the purchase of Equifax Complete™ Premier

$4.95 for the first 30 days, then $19.95 per month thereafter. You may cancel at any time; however, we do not provide partial month refunds.4

¹The credit scores provided under the offers described here use the Equifax Credit Score, which is a proprietary credit model developed by Equifax. The Equifax Credit Score and 3-Bureau scores are each based on the Equifax Credit Score model, but calculated using the information in your Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit files. The Equifax Credit Score is intended for your own educational use. It is also commercially available to third parties along with numerous other credit scores and models in the marketplace. Please keep in mind third parties are likely to use a different score when evaluating your creditworthiness. Also, third parties will take into consideration items other than your credit score or information found in your credit file, such as your income.

²The Automatic Fraud Alert feature is made available to consumers by Equifax Information Services LLC and fulfilled on its behalf by Equifax Consumer Services LLC.

³Equifax Credit Report Control™ is only available while you have a current subscription to Equifax Complete Premier. Locking your credit file with Equifax Credit Report Control will prevent access to your Equifax credit file by certain third parties, such as credit grantors or other companies and agencies. Credit Report Control will not prevent access to your credit file at any other credit reporting agency, and will not prevent access to your Equifax credit file by companies like Equifax Personal Solutions which provide you with access to your credit report or credit score or monitor your credit file; Federal, state and local government agencies; companies reviewing your application for employment; companies that have a current account or relationship with you, and collection agencies acting on behalf of those whom you owe; for fraud detection and prevention purposes; and companies that wish to make pre-approved offers of credit or insurance to you. To opt out of such pre-approved offers, visit www.optoutprescreen.com/.

4We will require you to provide your payment information when you sign up and we will immediately charge your card $4.95. After that, we will charge the card $19.95 for each month you continue your subscription. You may cancel at any time; however, we do not provide partial month refunds.

When you’re in debt, it can be tempting to enlist the help of a credit repair company that promises an end to all of your troubles. Unfortunately, some are scammers trying to take advantage of you. Here’s what to look for.

Unfortunately, some of the outstretched hands offering help with credit repair may actually belong to operators of scam companies.

Here are a few red flags that can indicate you’ve come across a credit repair scam:

A company asks you for money before doing any work.

A company tells you not to directly contact credit reporting agencies or your creditors.

A company tells you to dispute information in your credit report that you know is accurate or encourages you to give false information on loan or credit applications.

Fees for illegal services

Companies running credit repair scams sometimes require monthly service fees or charge exorbitant amounts, occasionally telling you to pay them directly instead of making payments to your creditors. Others offer the idea of a “new credit identity” that, for a fee, supposedly hides your bad credit history or bankruptcy.

If you pay that fee, the fraudulent credit repair company may provide you with a nine-digit number that looks like a Social Security number and that is often referred to as a CPN (which stands for “credit profile number” or “credit privacy number”). But the CPN may actually be a Social Security number the company has stolen from someone else.

In other cases, the fraudulent company will suggest that you apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. This is a legitimate number used by businesses to report to the IRS, but it is not a substitute for a Social Security number.

The phony credit repair company may then ask that you apply for credit using one of these numbers. Unfortunately, if you use either the CPN or EIN, the fraudsters may have involved you in identity theft, which could leave you facing fines or even time in prison according to the FTC.

What to do if you’ve been scammed

Legitimate credit repair organizations operate under the watchful eye of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which requires that these organizations explain your legal rights to you in a written contract. This contract details the services they’ll perform, how long it will take to get results, the costs involved, and any guarantees.

If you believe that you’ve been scammed by a credit repair scheme, there are a few things you can do. Many states have laws regulating credit repair companies that accompany the federal laws. Report your experience to your local consumer affairs office or the state attorney general, and file a report with your local police department.

You can also file a complaint with the FTC by submitting your police report along with a completed FTC Identity Theft Affidavit. These two items make up your Identity Theft Report. The FTC can’t help individuals resolve their credit issues, but it can take action against a company that has a history of violating the law.

If you believe you’ve been scammed, consider purchasing an identity monitoring product. These products will alert you to any changes made to your credit file so you have a chance to mitigate the impact of an identity theft before it spreads.

3 comments

People do unfortunately run to these Repair companies for help as a last resort. when you file to investigate an item with the Actual Credit Reporting Agency i.e. Equifax, Experian or Trans Union, you do not receive a fair investigation or most likely, no investigation period. They may pick up the phone an call a collection company an just ask if you owe this item. What is the collection company answer going to be; NO? I have four items on my report that are not mine and have tried to get help from the Reporting Agencies for a couple of years now even by joining and paying THEM monthly fees. Becoming a subscriber Does NOT help. You still can’t get an investigation. Use a Repair Company however; look for one that has been in business for a long time, has an actual physical address and membership in agencies like BBB etc. Most of them will be honest with you and let you know if something is able or unable to be changed. Good Luck

Leave a Comment

We welcome your interest and participation on this forum, but be aware that comments will be published at Equifax's sole discretion.
Please don't use this blog to submit questions or concerns about your Equifax credit report or raise customer service issues.
Instead, you should contact Equifax directly for all such matters and any attempts to do so in this forum will be promptly re-directed.

Some other factors to consider when commenting:

Registration and privacy. While no registration is required to visit our forum, participants wishing to post a message must register by creating an account. All personal information provided by forum members incident to registration is governed by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

All comments are anonymous. We'll delete your name, e-mail address, and any other identifying information, including details about your investments.

We can't post or respond to every comment - As much as we'd like to, we can't post every comment, nor can we guarantee that we will respond to each individual message. All questions or comments about your Equifax credit report or similar customer service issues should be handled by contacting Equifax directly.

Don't offer specific legal, tax or financial advice. All of the materials on this Site are for information, education, and noncommercial purposes only and this forum is not intended as a means of expressing views or ideas regarding any specific legal, tax, or investment advice. While offering general rules of thumb is both permitted and encouraged, recommending specific ideas or strategies regarding investments, taxes, and related matters is prohibited.

Credit Repair. This blog is not intended as a venue for the discussion or exchange of ideas regarding credit repair or other strategies intended to assist visitors and community members improve or otherwise modify their credit histories, ratings or scores.

Stay on topic. Your comment should be concise and pertain to the specific post in question.

Be respectful of the community. The use of profanity, offensive language, spam, and personal attacks will not be tolerated and egregious or repeat offenders will be banned from future participation. We encourage disagreement and healthy debate, but please refrain from personal attacks on our WordPresss and contributors.

Finally: Participation in this forum may be terminated by Equifax immediately and without notice for failure to comply with any guidelines or Terms of Use. As such, you should familiarize yourself with all pertinent requirements prior to submitting any response through the blog or otherwise. All opinions expressed in this forum are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and don't necessarily represent the views of Equifax or its management.

Equifax maintains this interactive forum for education and information purposes in order to allow individuals to share their relevant knowledge and opinions with other members and visitors. We encourage you to participate in discussions about personal finance issues and other topics of interest to this community, but please read our
commenting guidelines first.
Equifax reserves the right to monitor postings to the forum and comments will be published at our discretion. Do you have questions or comments about your Equifax credit report or customer-service issues regarding an Equifax product? If so, please
contact Equifax directly.
All opinions and information expressed or shared in blog comments are solely those of the person submitting the comments, and don't necessarily represent the views of Equifax or its management.